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My Uncle’s Old CRT TV Showed Me Things That Shouldn’t Exist
This all started because of that CRT TV my uncle had given me. He was a hoarder, and my family did a Intervention-type meeting with him to convince him of his bad habits. He finally gave up and agreed to throw all the junk he has accumulated over the past 10 years away. It just so happened, that he owned an old mint-condition CRT, and I always wanted to own one. Call me a hipster, or whatever, but I wanted to use it to play retro games, you know, to get “that” feeling.
The very first day I brought and plugged it in it gave me a nasty static shock once I touched the ON/OFF button. Nothing to bad, but it caught me off-guard.
“Well, I guess old electronics stored in a dusty mess of a room for over a decade are like that.” I shrugged and turned it on.
The sight of fuzzy pixelated static made me smirk, and soon enough I plugged in an old VCR and a Super Nintendo I got from a flea market last summer. I only had two VHS tapes and one SNES cartridge, but I was happy to just see it all working.
I decided to test the VCR first. I put the first tape – an old copy of Disney’s Lion King – and pressed play. I sat back and watched as familiar music and Disney logo appeared on screen. There was some distortion, but the tape was in good condition. I really liked how it was going – I finally got to use outdated technology to my heart’s content with a proper display – until something weird happened.
The iconic Circle of Life scene where Simba was being raised in the air by Rafiki cut abruptly. The screen became black void for a while, but the sound was still playing. However, while the screen going black annoyed me, the sound I’ve heard during that “blackout” made me unnerved. I never heard this audio ever before or after and had no idea how it got there, but it must’ve been an alternate version of the missing scene cut from the final release. This was the only rational explanation I could muster, but that still didn’t explain how it got onto my copy, which was by all mean a proper commercially-available copy.
The song faded away quicker than in the original scene, and some murmuring mixed in with animal sounds was heard. As if all the gathered animals began to speculate about something that just happened. Then, the weirdest thing occurred. I could now hear how someone seems to walk up to whatever the scene was supposed to be focused on at this point. Slow, punctual and painfully clear footsteps were becoming louder and louder. Then, they stopped. I guess, someone important must’ve made an appearance, but who? All the other sounds stopped suddenly, and the worst noise – a cacophony of furious animal roars, human screams of all sorts and tones – began to blast out of the TV. It was so sudden and jarring, that it made me jump. The horrible sounds went on and on, without any sign of stopping.
I endured about a minute of this before I quickly ejected the tape, trembling with confusion.
“What was that all about?” I asked myself aloud, my sight stiffly focused on the now static-filled screen.
“Some prank.” I thought. “Yeah, that’s it! Some asshole dubbed the tape over with this scene to give someone a scare. Right.”
Again, what else could that be? I had no other possibilities in mind – and, in all honesty, still don’t – so, I just put the tape away and grabbed the other. That one was Killers From Space, an old – and rather bad, even in the opinion of low-budget 50s horror aficionados – sci-fi movie. The movie was fine, I watched it for about half an hour and didn’t notice anything wrong. At this point I was relaxed and laughing at myself for getting so horrified by that stupid Lion King tape. Then, my heart dropped. In the movie, the titular Killers From Space are these silly-looking humanoid aliens with big googly eyes. However, the scene of their introduction, which now was playing in front of me, was different.
In fact, the aliens were completely changed. The costumes looked much more intricate, with meticulous veins running around their now nightmarish inhuman heads. I really can’t find a good comparison to describe their form. The heads looked like giant warts of veiny flesh covered sparsely in few places with patchy hair. The eyes – which looked hilarious in the original – were the worst however. They looked organic, they were moving, slightly pulsating and they stared straight into the camera, no matter the camera angle, or scene. Even in moments, during which they were supposed to be looking at and talking to the main protagonist, they were instead staring right at me. Their costumes were different also, with long stripes of torn metallic-looking material hanging down to their bent and disfigured lanky legs. In between the torn costumes I could see a pulsating fleshy mass, which resembled raw meat.
Then, just like in the Lion King tape, a new scene began. This time, the picture was clear and the audio was missing. The aliens were leading the main hero through a long corridor at the end of which stood a huge hangar-like room, or rather, a laboratory. There were hundreds of big glass tubes filled with liquid and people all around this enormous place. Clearly, this would be impossible to make in the 50s, and if this was supposed to be CGI added later, then, even with the VHS distortion and low resolution, it was the most impressive CG graphics I’ve ever seen. One of the aliens pointed towards one of the tubes. Inside, floating in the liquid, was a woman. Her stomach was wide open, and you could see her insides. After this macabre sight, the camera slowly panned to a smaller tube, which was near the one with the woman. Inside, there was a human fetus, maybe 7, or 8 months old. Breathing slowly. This tube was not filled with liquid, and the small figure moved ever so slightly. I could now see, that the child was a boy. The camera zoomed-in on his face. He then opened his eyes and looked straight at me.
I couldn’t bear much longer. Completely panic-stricken, I ejected the tape and threw it at the wall. I couldn’t care less if I’d broke it – it wasn’t normal. Now, I was sure of it.
My mind was scattered. I thought and thought about it. Was it another prank? No. Impossible. Nobody could make such an professional and convincing fake, especially considering the fact, that the original actors were still in the movie. How the hell could anyone change the aliens that way? An the huge room with all these tubes? CG? Impossible. Not in the 50s. Not in the 80s, or 90s either. Where did that tape come from? All these questioned ran a muck in my thoughts, while I laid down exhausted on my bed. It was still sunny outside, but I was so tired, that, almost immediately, I fell asleep.
Then, I had a terrible dream. I was younger – maybe 5 years old – and was staying home alone. It was late at night, when – while laying in my bed – I heard a noise coming from the living room. Terrified, my younger self ventures into the darkness tightly clutching his blanket and looking around with terror. There is a light in the living room, and the sound I heard sends me into a fever of shock and panic. The TV static is so sinister, that I almost scream right there, but I subconsciously know that I should stay silent, because some “other” will pounce on me the second I make the slightest noise. I was small and vulnerable.
The TV plays all of my childhood favorites: Shrek, Lion King, Looney Tunes – but there is something horribly wrong with all of the footage I see on the screen. Everything is wrong. Shrek is so grotesque, that I can barely look at him. The altered Lion King scene from that tape plays again, and Bugs gets his head blown off by Elmer – not in a comedic fashion, but in a morbid and realistic way. Just when I’m about to turn the TV off, someone catches me by my hand. I scream, and then, I wake up covered in cold sweat. It’s late at night, and I must’ve been sleeping for a long time. The TV was on, and the Super Nintendo was plugged into it and running. The only game for the console that I owned – Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island – was playing itself. Yoshi jumped around the stage, as if he was being controlled by an invisible player. But how? There wasn’t even a controller plugged in. Did I turn it on in my sleep?
Just when I thought that this was only the demo mode playing, Yoshi ran straight into a piranha plant and baby Mario started flying away in his bubble, emitting that annoying cry. This time, just as with the tapes, it was different. Baby Mario’s cry sounded more like long and painful wailing. It made me feel physically sick. I was in pain, I wanted to cry. There was something about that sound that made me remember something, but I still don’t know exactly what. A distant memory. Something, I remember from a very long time ago. Soon enough, the entire screen, with the exception of Mario in his bubble, went black. Then, he stopped crying. He looked straight at me. Below him, white letters began to form, slowly, one after another forming this sentence:
“EVERY CHILD NEEDS A GUARDIAN. I WILL GIVE YOU ONE.”
Now, two weeks later, that TV is somewhere far away from here. I gave it away for free as quickly as I could. I couldn’t bare this. I don’t know why, but I feel bad about it. I’m afraid that now it torments its new owner just as it did me. This was not the end of misery for me, however. The throwing away of all his junk did not improve my uncle’s mental state, and – much to the shock and despair of me and my family – he committed suicide. I was so sudden – they found him hanging in his now much cleaner room. He looked way worse then before. He was gaunt and pale.
I think it was somehow related to that damned TV. The tapes and the game turned out to be fine, as I tested them again at a friend’s. There was nothing wrong with them – it was the TV my uncle gave me, that turned everything it displayed into a nightmare. It sent me these messages for a reason, but what was it? I pondered about the message that game gave me. Who was supposed to be my guardian? Who, or what would show me these terrible nightmares? I never really had problems with my parents, they both love me, and I love them. The messages I got from that damned TV made no sense to me. Even if it was some kind of a ghost, demon, being, whatever, all of this just baffled me.
Now, something else happened after all that. I had a new dream last night – this is the reason I’m writing this down. It was exactly the same as the nightmare I had before, but one thing was different. My uncle was there with me, watching. I felt safe.
#entertainment
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This all started because of that CRT TV my uncle had given me. He was a hoarder, and my family did a Intervention-type meeting with him to convince him of his bad habits. He finally gave up and agreed to throw all the junk he has accumulated over the past 10 years away. It just so happened, that he owned an old mint-condition CRT, and I always wanted to own one. Call me a hipster, or whatever, but I wanted to use it to play retro games, you know, to get “that” feeling.
The very first day I brought and plugged it in it gave me a nasty static shock once I touched the ON/OFF button. Nothing to bad, but it caught me off-guard.
“Well, I guess old electronics stored in a dusty mess of a room for over a decade are like that.” I shrugged and turned it on.
The sight of fuzzy pixelated static made me smirk, and soon enough I plugged in an old VCR and a Super Nintendo I got from a flea market last summer. I only had two VHS tapes and one SNES cartridge, but I was happy to just see it all working.
I decided to test the VCR first. I put the first tape – an old copy of Disney’s Lion King – and pressed play. I sat back and watched as familiar music and Disney logo appeared on screen. There was some distortion, but the tape was in good condition. I really liked how it was going – I finally got to use outdated technology to my heart’s content with a proper display – until something weird happened.
The iconic Circle of Life scene where Simba was being raised in the air by Rafiki cut abruptly. The screen became black void for a while, but the sound was still playing. However, while the screen going black annoyed me, the sound I’ve heard during that “blackout” made me unnerved. I never heard this audio ever before or after and had no idea how it got there, but it must’ve been an alternate version of the missing scene cut from the final release. This was the only rational explanation I could muster, but that still didn’t explain how it got onto my copy, which was by all mean a proper commercially-available copy.
The song faded away quicker than in the original scene, and some murmuring mixed in with animal sounds was heard. As if all the gathered animals began to speculate about something that just happened. Then, the weirdest thing occurred. I could now hear how someone seems to walk up to whatever the scene was supposed to be focused on at this point. Slow, punctual and painfully clear footsteps were becoming louder and louder. Then, they stopped. I guess, someone important must’ve made an appearance, but who? All the other sounds stopped suddenly, and the worst noise – a cacophony of furious animal roars, human screams of all sorts and tones – began to blast out of the TV. It was so sudden and jarring, that it made me jump. The horrible sounds went on and on, without any sign of stopping.
I endured about a minute of this before I quickly ejected the tape, trembling with confusion.
“What was that all about?” I asked myself aloud, my sight stiffly focused on the now static-filled screen.
“Some prank.” I thought. “Yeah, that’s it! Some asshole dubbed the tape over with this scene to give someone a scare. Right.”
Again, what else could that be? I had no other possibilities in mind – and, in all honesty, still don’t – so, I just put the tape away and grabbed the other. That one was Killers From Space, an old – and rather bad, even in the opinion of low-budget 50s horror aficionados – sci-fi movie. The movie was fine, I watched it for about half an hour and didn’t notice anything wrong. At this point I was relaxed and laughing at myself for getting so horrified by that stupid Lion King tape. Then, my heart dropped. In the movie, the titular Killers From Space are these silly-looking humanoid aliens with big googly eyes. However, the scene of their introduction, which now was playing in front of me, was different.
In fact, the aliens were completely changed. The costumes looked much more intricate, with meticulous veins running around their now nightmarish inhuman heads. I really can’t find a good comparison to describe their form. The heads looked like giant warts of veiny flesh covered sparsely in few places with patchy hair. The eyes – which looked hilarious in the original – were the worst however. They looked organic, they were moving, slightly pulsating and they stared straight into the camera, no matter the camera angle, or scene. Even in moments, during which they were supposed to be looking at and talking to the main protagonist, they were instead staring right at me. Their costumes were different also, with long stripes of torn metallic-looking material hanging down to their bent and disfigured lanky legs. In between the torn costumes I could see a pulsating fleshy mass, which resembled raw meat.
Then, just like in the Lion King tape, a new scene began. This time, the picture was clear and the audio was missing. The aliens were leading the main hero through a long corridor at the end of which stood a huge hangar-like room, or rather, a laboratory. There were hundreds of big glass tubes filled with liquid and people all around this enormous place. Clearly, this would be impossible to make in the 50s, and if this was supposed to be CGI added later, then, even with the VHS distortion and low resolution, it was the most impressive CG graphics I’ve ever seen. One of the aliens pointed towards one of the tubes. Inside, floating in the liquid, was a woman. Her stomach was wide open, and you could see her insides. After this macabre sight, the camera slowly panned to a smaller tube, which was near the one with the woman. Inside, there was a human fetus, maybe 7, or 8 months old. Breathing slowly. This tube was not filled with liquid, and the small figure moved ever so slightly. I could now see, that the child was a boy. The camera zoomed-in on his face. He then opened his eyes and looked straight at me.
I couldn’t bear much longer. Completely panic-stricken, I ejected the tape and threw it at the wall. I couldn’t care less if I’d broke it – it wasn’t normal. Now, I was sure of it.
My mind was scattered. I thought and thought about it. Was it another prank? No. Impossible. Nobody could make such an professional and convincing fake, especially considering the fact, that the original actors were still in the movie. How the hell could anyone change the aliens that way? An the huge room with all these tubes? CG? Impossible. Not in the 50s. Not in the 80s, or 90s either. Where did that tape come from? All these questioned ran a muck in my thoughts, while I laid down exhausted on my bed. It was still sunny outside, but I was so tired, that, almost immediately, I fell asleep.
Then, I had a terrible dream. I was younger – maybe 5 years old – and was staying home alone. It was late at night, when – while laying in my bed – I heard a noise coming from the living room. Terrified, my younger self ventures into the darkness tightly clutching his blanket and looking around with terror. There is a light in the living room, and the sound I heard sends me into a fever of shock and panic. The TV static is so sinister, that I almost scream right there, but I subconsciously know that I should stay silent, because some “other” will pounce on me the second I make the slightest noise. I was small and vulnerable.
The TV plays all of my childhood favorites: Shrek, Lion King, Looney Tunes – but there is something horribly wrong with all of the footage I see on the screen. Everything is wrong. Shrek is so grotesque, that I can barely look at him. The altered Lion King scene from that tape plays again, and Bugs gets his head blown off by Elmer – not in a comedic fashion, but in a morbid and realistic way. Just when I’m about to turn the TV off, someone catches me by my hand. I scream, and then, I wake up covered in cold sweat. It’s late at night, and I must’ve been sleeping for a long time. The TV was on, and the Super Nintendo was plugged into it and running. The only game for the console that I owned – Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island – was playing itself. Yoshi jumped around the stage, as if he was being controlled by an invisible player. But how? There wasn’t even a controller plugged in. Did I turn it on in my sleep?
Just when I thought that this was only the demo mode playing, Yoshi ran straight into a piranha plant and baby Mario started flying away in his bubble, emitting that annoying cry. This time, just as with the tapes, it was different. Baby Mario’s cry sounded more like long and painful wailing. It made me feel physically sick. I was in pain, I wanted to cry. There was something about that sound that made me remember something, but I still don’t know exactly what. A distant memory. Something, I remember from a very long time ago. Soon enough, the entire screen, with the exception of Mario in his bubble, went black. Then, he stopped crying. He looked straight at me. Below him, white letters began to form, slowly, one after another forming this sentence:
“EVERY CHILD NEEDS A GUARDIAN. I WILL GIVE YOU ONE.”
Now, two weeks later, that TV is somewhere far away from here. I gave it away for free as quickly as I could. I couldn’t bare this. I don’t know why, but I feel bad about it. I’m afraid that now it torments its new owner just as it did me. This was not the end of misery for me, however. The throwing away of all his junk did not improve my uncle’s mental state, and – much to the shock and despair of me and my family – he committed suicide. I was so sudden – they found him hanging in his now much cleaner room. He looked way worse then before. He was gaunt and pale.
I think it was somehow related to that damned TV. The tapes and the game turned out to be fine, as I tested them again at a friend’s. There was nothing wrong with them – it was the TV my uncle gave me, that turned everything it displayed into a nightmare. It sent me these messages for a reason, but what was it? I pondered about the message that game gave me. Who was supposed to be my guardian? Who, or what would show me these terrible nightmares? I never really had problems with my parents, they both love me, and I love them. The messages I got from that damned TV made no sense to me. Even if it was some kind of a ghost, demon, being, whatever, all of this just baffled me.
Now, something else happened after all that. I had a new dream last night – this is the reason I’m writing this down. It was exactly the same as the nightmare I had before, but one thing was different. My uncle was there with me, watching. I felt safe.
#entertainment
source
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